Today Microsoft officially ships its Zune digital-media player and throws open the doors to its new Zune Marketplace digital-music store while also shuttering its MSN Music store.
And there’s still more Microsoft to come. Microsoft Office 2007 hit the Golden Master mark last Monday signifying it was ready to ship to manufacturing plants. On Wednesday, Windows Vista was “RTMed” (”released to manufacturing”).
Vista will make its retail debut Jan. 30, and Office is scheduled for “early 2007.”
Is it any wonder that Microsoft’s shares closed the week above $29 for the first time since November 2004.
The company’s share price had fallen into the low $20s over the summer, after Microsoft disclosed plans for a big boost in spending. In recent months, the stock has been making small but steady gains. It finished trading the week before last at $28.73.
The Microsoft Zune device has a three-inch LCD screen (bigger than iPod) that can display videos and pictures in portrait or landscape mode and has a built-in FM tuner also. It will initially be available only in black, white and brown, unlike iPod which are available in a number of bright colours. Zune is being built by Toshiba.
To begin with, there will be only one 30GB version for Zune which will come pre-loaded with a good selection of songs, music videos and film trailers, all installed on the device’s hard drive to help consumers start using it immediately.
“The big, whomping Zune news,” though, as the NYT’s David Pogue puts it, is wireless sharing. The Zune has a built-in Wi-Fi antenna. (Turning it on costs you one hour of battery life.)
During the playback of any photo or song, you can view a list of Zunes within 30 feet. Sending a song takes about 15 seconds, a photo 2 seconds; you can’t send videos at all.
Your lucky recipient can accept or decline your offering — and, if you have really terrible taste, can block your Zune permanently.
“It all works well enough, but it’s just so weird that Zunes can connect only to each other. Who’d build a Wi-Fi device that can’t connect to a wireless network — to sync with your PC, for example? Nor to an Internet hot spot, to download music directly?
Microsoft is leaving nothing to chance here. The Zune will be available in 30,000 stores nationwide — versus 10,000 for the iPod, Microsoft says. Zune commercials will run several times during each episode of popular TV shows, bearing the slogan “Welcome to the social.”
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